Striking hammer for firearms



' A. GAZDA STRIKING HAMMER FOR FIREARMS April 30, 1946.

Filed April 4, 1944 Patented Apr. 30, 1946 I TED TES PAT E NT 20F FllCf-E 12,399,432 LST-RYIKIN G1 ER FOR-:FIREAR-MS Antoine Gazda, Providence, R." I.

AApplicationffApril 4, 1944,.Serial:Nm 529,460

' ,witz- 3) 5 Claims.

"The present'invention'relates "to a f novel and improved construction :of striking hammer for 'rearms While the inventionisbroadly applicable tol semieautomatic as well as "automatic types of firearms,A it vis'particularly usefulginzthe so-called' blow;backitypeof'automatic gun, i. e. the type "wherein Vthe'rearward strokeof ythe breech blockis eiectedwithlthe aidof vthe recoil impulse derived' Vfrom Zthe. gun, gases.

L'Gunsf the afore'findicatedtype areiired at 1 a Avery highii'ring; rateso. that' it. is not unusual for`thelbreech. block and associated parts .to describe,.`.for example, as many .as .11000 -ornnore strokes A.per minute. It is manifest I that ,this placeswa high straincon .the .parts which, `how-- .ever,.must-be-..f..a.character to withstand such strain if dangerous break-downs of the guns .are .-to .be avoided.

y-The lpresent invention, theprimaryobject. vof

VVwhich is .totsolvettheproblem .oft avoiding such ybreak-downs, does so. by providing `arrelationship L parts,` of whichL the striking hammer and its .construction according. to., thej present` .invention t are of. thefessence, `whichisfiadapted4 successfully 25 to `V:endure the tapcvc-clescribed'V high I operative strain;

Briefly:istated,f;the.primary.- object` of -.the ,1 in- "ventionl is realized f with the s aid of a Ystriking hammer Aconstruction vwhichlis modified to .endow f it--with-'suclr `resilien'ce'z-as: enable it :to :withstand and :counteract-A the; repeated.V shocks. to which it is fsubjectnin operation. Particularsof the modifications:willappearfromzrthe detailedadescription hereinafterifsetforth.

OtherLobjects :ofvthezdnventionuwill part'. be obvious landsfinfpartpointed. out:` in the: said; de- .:scriptionfin Vwhich:connection, reference will be :made: Atof=tliei1accompanying.drawing.

rrAccordinglm; theiy present invention-2 resides in the several elements andfe'atures of construction, and-ther-'correlation of these elements and features, all as described herein and as recited in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawing discloses presently-preferred embodiments of the invention. Of the several gures,

Fig. 1 is a somewhat diagrammatic view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the relationship of parts according to the invention and of adjacent gun parts, showing one position of the striking arrangement;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 and showing a second position of the striking arrangement;

Fig. 3 .is-still :another--:viewsimi1ar "to-thatfof `Fig. y1 and showingstill fanothenpositioniof'the striking arrangement;

fFig.- 4 is a perspective view of one' form` ofstrikinghammer accordingito the invention;

Fig-'5 is a fragmentary view fof -a second form of striking hammer according-tothe invention;

f and Fig. 6 is -aV fragmentary*- view 'ofY a thirdaform of -striking hammer according to the invention.

On the `said guresof drawing, r'reference character I Il A4designates' the :barrel fof the gun and I I designates lthe breech tubein *which the breech the. said block, as` shown.

Head` I 'I of the strikinghammer is .received-.in

'slot I8 provided, 1n theV extension, I9.of.lring p in 20 which is mounted for reciprocalmovementin correspondinglyfshaped lbore 2 I provided .in .jthe

block. 4 Flanged. .bushing 22 provided. `.in bore.. 2 l

provides, .at its.l inner end aniabutment `defining the outward limit of movement yoi yt11epin2ll. Thebushingflange.constitutes-,a cartridge lpush- ,ingr element.

' In 'thezillustratedl type of automatic'.r` gun,..t he

, sequence of operations during ring lis vessentially `as follows:

The.A breech. block I2 being. in.v cocked-position,

, anda cartridge A23 from the-cartridge magazine (not shown) yhaving y,taken itst place in frontof .the breech blockgupon` release ,ofthe trigger; the .block together withJv associated parts. starts-mov- 40 ingforward underv4 the inuence. ;.of. the; conventional means (not shown) provided .for this.. Durpose. Fig. 1 shows the relationship of parts with the breech block in forward stroke, the cartridge 23 being pushed into the cartridge chamber. During this forward stroke, the striking hammer I3 approaches the striker plate 24 which extends, as shown, across the bottom of tube II into the path of projecting nose I6, noses I6 in this position of the hammer being elevated to extent en-y abling them to clear the plate.

Continued forward movement of the breech block results (Fig. 2) in interengagement of nose I6 and striker plate 24 causing the hammer I3 to rotate about its pivot pin I5 to produce relative movement between the firing pin and breech block, with the result that pre-percussion takes place and the cartridge is ignited.

After ignition has occurred, explosion takes place and the resultant gas pressure impels the projectile 25 through the barrel l0 (Fig. 3), at.

the same time braking the forward motion of the breech block i2. Thereby the gas pressure loses about half of its recoil impulse. vThis reduced remaining impulse pushes the breech block backwards, at the same time pushingoutv and then electing the cartridge case. A

Fig. 3 shows the breech block at its foremost reversal point.

During the rearward stroke,

both noses I6' of the hammer I3 strike against the striker plate 24, raising these noses andnsv causing the striking hammer and firing pin to re- Y vert to their starting position whereupon, the

trigger continuing released, the above described firing action is repeated. Y

Notwithstanding the fact that ythe striking 'hammer 3 is preferablymade of .heat-treated ,highfalloy'steeL precision ground to shape, the continuous and rapid hammering action which .takes place between the hammer noses and the striking plate 24, during firing, has a tendency to give rise tn ,fracture lines generally emanating from thev point (Fig; 2) Y It has been found that by impartingsoine elasticityrto the hammer noses I6 and i6', the tendency tothe formation of lthe said fracture .lines appears to be essentially eliminated.

shownrin Figs. 4, 5and6r,rthefstriking ham- Iner a lfork-shaped forward end, providing `a pair-of spaced nosesl 6', a single depending nose I 6 beingl provided on the'other end.

According to they inventiomlthe desired elas- .ti'city is imparted to the hammer noses by providingl eachv of them with a slot 26 extending 'transversely and substantiallyzcentrally thereof, assho'wm'from the lower surface back somewhat more than half, preferably approirimately'two- "thirds, ofthe length of thenose ',The depth of the slot is not absolute'and some latitude in either vdirection is permissible. The slotting may 'be effected in` any desired manner, as for exam-L ple" by grinding.v

'f nach Sietze subdivides its nose into nibs which "possess the considerable relative elasticity' which enables the object; of the invention to be essenftially realized.

In order to avoid the generation of random fracture lines from the bottom of the slots, each 'slot 26- is preferably provided,'according to the 4embodiment of Fig. 4, with an `enlarged rounded bore 21 at the bottom thereof.

According to Fig. 6, the generatrix 29 constituting the bottom of the slot has an even smaller radius, the ends thereof being rectilinearly contube, a striker plate projecting inwardiy of theY tube, a breech block reciprocable in the tube, a

ring pin longitudinally slidableV in the breech block, a hammer lever pivoted in the breech block, said lever having a portion engaging the firing pin, and spaced transversely slotted noses l on the opposite yend of the lever said nosesbeing -The degree Yof resiliency of the nibs may be controlled by controlling the configuration of the bottom of the slots 26. Thus; according to Fig.

5,3 instead'of providing an enlarged bore 21,'the bottom ofthe bore is rounded along ageneratrix 28 having arradius R equal to 1/2'W (VW being` the widthofthesloi-Jl. Y*

positioned to engage the'fstriker plate during rev- Ciprocation f the -breech block, 'i

3. In a firearm offtheclass described'a' breech tube, a ,strikerV plate projecting inwardly of the tube, a breech blockreciprocable in the tube, Va

ii'rin'g pin longitudinally slidable in the breech block, a hammer lever pivoted Yin the breech block and operably connected with'the` firing pin, 'the forward portion" of the lever being bifurcated and forming spaced dependent noses, the rear portion vof the lever having a single dependent nose, al1 of Vsaid noses'being transversely slotted in a vertical direction" and engaging said strikerv Vplate s during reciprocation of the breech block. Y

4. In a firearm of the class described, a breech tube, astriker platev projecting inwardly'fof the tube, a breech block reciprocabler in the tube,`a. `firing'pinl longitudinally slidable inthe breech block,l a hammer flever pivote'd in-` the breech block and operably-connected with the ringpin,

said levervhaving-y frontV and rear dependent noses in positions to engageopposite sides of the striker plate during reciprocation of the breechblock,

` each of saidl noses being divided transversely'- and @vertically for a major part of the'height-thereo'f.

In a firearm fof the class described,al breech tube, a striker plate projecting inwardly-ofthe tube, a breech block reciprocable inthe' tube, a

`firing pin longitudinally slidable in the Ybreech block, a hammer lever -pivoted in.. theV breech block and operably connected with the firing pin;

Y said lever having front and rear dependent noses in positions to engage opposite sides ofthe strik- .er plate during reciprocationfbf thebreech block,

each of said noses having a `transverseslot' in 'a vertical plane-said slots being transversely en- ;larged attheir inner ends. 

